a blog supplementing the Images of America book from Arcadia Publishing

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Downtown 1958

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Looking West

A view to the
west on Main Street on a stormy day, circa 1927.The streetcar tracks are still evident but
service had been discontinued in 1925.As reported in the book, popular belief had traditionally been that the
streetcar service ended because of the rise of the automobile as a means of
transportation. But for Neenah and Menasha, at least, the official reason cited
in a news article of the time was simply that the streetcar company (Wisconsin
Traction, Light, Heat, and Power Company) didn’t want the responsibility of
paying for new bridges. The same news item argued that there was sufficient
“motor bus” service to take up the slack. Streetcar service lasted in Appleton
and Oshkosh until 1930.

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About David Galassie

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About the book

Menasha was carved from the northeastern Wisconsin wilderness in the late 1840s. At the confluence of the Fox River and Lake Winnebago, the town’s early entrepreneurs and industrialists sought the promise of waterpower to fuel their mills and kick-start the engine of commerce. Taming the Fox with dams, canals, and a lock, Menasha initially made its mark with flour mills and lumber-based industry. At one time, the city was home to the largest manufacturer of wood-turned products in the world. In the late 19th century, however, the tides of change once again washed upon the city and industrial focus shifted to the paper industry. What made Menasha great were dependable waterpower, plentiful rail connections to centers of commerce in Milwaukee and Chicago, and a prolific labor force that coincided with an influx of European immigrants.